Assassination

"What will I discover if I dig to the left?"

After he spent his mental energy, the divination crystal ball transformed. The crystal ball turned white.

: Holy light is raining in the cave. A white cave. A white tomorrow awaits!

"Holy light is raining? A white tomorrow?" Xia Chengfeng pondered on the prophecy. Judging from the prophetic words, there might be relics linked to deities in that cave.

That did not mean that the cave was safe. Under normal circumstances, a group of devout fanatics often guarded divine relics. Barging into those caves might trigger an attack from them.

"The cave might have monsters from the path of the Holy Disciple. These monsters have many mysterious abilities and I shouldn't take that risk." Xia Chengfeng gave up on that direction and explored his other options.

"What will I discover if I dig downward?" he said to the crystal ball as he sought another divination.

Ordinarily, digging upward or down was slightly more difficult. However, now that Xia Chengfeng's strength had increased, digging in these two directions was no longer a problem for him.

The transformation of the divination crystal ball this time was rather strange. It showed many colors like red, yellow, and blue. It did not stop changing.

"Elemental energy is coursing. A new item is about to take shape."

"There are many elements which means that there might be magical creatures. However, the prophecy mentioned a new item…" Xia Chengfeng muttered as a thought formed, "Could it be the creation of a magic elixir?"

If something was brewing a magic elixir in the cave below him, it might mean that there would be resources relating to alchemists there.

"I'll dig downward!" Xia Chengfeng rested for a while and ate his fill. He brewed three doses of [Hemostatic Elixir Lv1].

He then dug downward.

Digging downward required more energy. Fortunately, he had space to store the soil in his space bubble. He could remove the need for going up and down if he did that.

After digging for roughly an hour, Xia Chengfeng hit the space bubble under him. He tore a small hole in the space bubble and observed the situation closely in the cave.

This cave was rather large and had hilly terrain. Several varieties of plants grew in the cave. There were also large pieces of granite scattered all around the cave floor.

From his higher vantage point, Xia Chengfeng had a direct view of the center of the cave. There was a gathering of stout creatures surrounding a boiling cauldron. They were tossing a variety of ingredients into the pot.

There were medicinal herbs, powders, and even a comrade that they had tied up. They tossed the struggling gnome into the boiling cauldron and cooked it alive!

[Evil Gnome Lv1]: A relatively evil creature from the gnome race. They are sinister and merciless.

Xia Chengfeng already had some experience in battle. He should have no problems dealing with level one gnomes.

He noticed that there were a total of six [Evil Gnome Lv1]s. Other than those, there was also a gnome wielding a thin metal rod standing on a rock.

[Evil Gnome Lv3]: An evil gnome that loves creating poisons. Be careful of its poison.

Profession: Apothecary.

"A level three apothecary?" Xia Chengfeng gasped as he stared at the creature. He was not afraid. Instead, he was rather surprised.

That was because an apothecary was a subdivision of an alchemist. That meant that he might obtain the Profession Enlightenment for an alchemist if he killed the gnome.

"Fortunately, this gnome is an apothecary. Low-level apothecaries do not have many offensive skills." Xia Chengfeng whispered as he considered the situation. Apothecaries were a supportive profession at the lower levels.

Even though he was only level one, it would not be hard for him to kill the gnome apothecary as long as he got close to it. The only thing he had to be careful about was to prevent it from consuming any magic elixirs. He should also take care not to be surrounded and attacked by the other gnomes all at once. For he could not defend himself from all directions alone.

"I can't launch a frontal attack. I might succeed if I just stab it from behind. I will not have to engage in an all-out battle with them that way!" Xia Chengfeng started to put his plan in place.

By this time, the evil gnomes had already reached a critical stage of their magic elixir preparation process. The gnome apothecary added ingredients continuously. The rest of the gnomes merely followed orders and did not notice Xia Chengfeng's arrival.

Xia Chengfeng found the perfect moment to jump down from above the cave. He then quickly hid behind a piece of granite.

None of the gnomes had noticed him yet. Xia Chengfeng crept toward them.

My first target is the gnome apothecary. I'll deal with the rest of the gnomes after that, Xia Chengfeng thought to himself, observing the situation. The gnome apothecary was standing on a giant rock and was looking down from above.

"It would have been perfect if I have a long-range weapon! I could kill the gnome apothecary with one attack if I had a bow or a crossbow," he cursed.

The rest of the gnomes were surrounding the cauldron. Xia Chengfeng had a high chance of success if he could move behind the giant rock and launch a surprise attack on the gnome apothecary from behind.

Xia Chengfeng slowed his breathing and darted between covers. Ten minutes later, he had gotten close enough to the giant rock where the gnome apothecary was standing.

The lines of sight of the other gnomes were blocked by the giant rock. The gnome apothecary was also paying full attention to the cauldron. This was Xia Chengfeng's best opportunity to strike.

Xia Chengfeng looked up. The giant rock was about seven meters tall and had an irregular surface that made it easy to scale. He was just afraid that he would alert the gnome apothecary. After all, its soul power is stronger and could sense the movement in its surroundings.

Xia Chengfeng scaled the rock and kept track of the distance between himself and his target in his head.

"Seven meters, six meters, five meters, four meters…" Xia Chengfeng held his breath when he was three meters away from the gnome apothecary.

From his previous experience playing the game, he remembered that a level one monster could sense the movements at a one-meter radius around them. The gnome apothecary should be able to sense movement in the three-meter area around it.

He moved even more cautiously!

"Two meters, one meter!" The stout body of the gnome apothecary was just in front of Xia Chengfeng, and he could even smell the stench emanating from its body. It smelt like a half-rotten fish!

The stench almost caused him to retch!

"I wonder if the beast skin it is wearing has any defense runes. As a precaution, I'll stab it in the back of its neck!" Xia Chengfeng's body tensed up as he awaited an opportunity to leap and attack.

At this moment, a gnome raised its head toward the gnome apothecary and caught a glimpse of a raised arm. Instantly, it cried out, "Guggle, guggle!"

That was a warning. The gnome apothecary was startled and turned to look behind him.

Xia Chengfeng bounded forward and stabbed his beast bone dagger into the back of its neck.

The gnome apothecary staggered back, wailing in pain. The attack had not killed it. However, it did sever its carotid artery and blood flowed incessantly.

"I'm not proficient enough at the job!" Xia Chengfeng scowled, regretting he did not finish off his target in one strike on his first time as an assassin.

The gnomes hollered as they scaled the giant rock. They wanted to attack Xia Chengfeng. Despite their stout bodies, they were like lizards when scaling the rock. They were incredibly fast!

Xia Chegnfeng's main target was still the gnome apothecary. The gnome apothecary clutched its neck and wanted to escape. Xia Chengfeng was one step ahead. He stabbed his dagger directly into the head of the gnome apothecary.

"Guggle!" The gnome apothecary grabbed a bottle of magic elixir but had no chance to use it before it died.

The magic elixir fell onto the granite. The contents of the bottle corroded a large hole in the granite!

The rest of the gnomes had already reached Xia Chengfeng. Xia Chengfeng sent one flying with a kick. The power and speed of the gnomes could not compare to his. It was easy to deal with them.

A moment later, Xia Chengfeng managed to kill the six [Evil Gnome Lv1]s and started to clean up the battlefield.

He decomposed the six level-one gnomes.

System Notification: Obtained [Soul Rock Fragment Lv1] +6, [Blood Vapor Essence Lv1] +6, [Gnome Skeleton Lv1] +6.

As per usual, Xia Chengfeng decomposed the skeletons into powder and scattered them on the ground.

Next up was the gnome apothecary. Xia Chengfeng found two pieces of equipment in the gnome apothecary.

[Alchemy Staff Lv3 (Common)]: An alchemy staff made out of unique material. It is a necessary item for alchemists.

[Evil Gnome's Numbing Ring Lv3 (Good)]: A ring made by evil gnomes. It is imbued with numbing runes and can temporarily numb enemies when activated with mental energy.

"Fortunately, my sneak attack worked. Otherwise, the situation would have turned against me if they managed to numb me!" Xia Chengfeng thanked his good luck.

He decomposed the gnome apothecary and obtained [Soul Rock Lv3] +1, [Blood Vapor Essence Lv3] +1, and [Gnome Skeleton Lv3] +1.

He continued to search the cave. Xia Chengfeng found a few medicinal herbs such as [Venomous Snake Bile Lv3], [Toad Poison Lv2] +1, [Magic Power Herb Lv3] +3, among other items.

The elixir in the cauldron was almost ready.

[Corrosive Poison Lv3]: A poison that has extremely corrosive properties. It can be used in an attack on enemies or applied to weapons. (Note: You can imbue corrosive properties onto ordinary weapons using this potion).

"Such a large pot of corrosive poison. I think I can sell it for a fortune!" Xia Chengfeng moved the cauldron and its contents into his space bubble. The cauldron was also a tool that alchemists used.

[Gnome's Alchemy Cauldron Lv3 (Good)]: An alchemy cauldron made by the gnomes. It can be used to create low-level magic elixirs.

"Where is the Profession Enlightenment?" Xia Chengfeng continued to search the cave.